Corn-silking machine.



'. (l MGNTYRE.

CORN SILKING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 7. 1913.

Patented Got. 28, 1913.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

J.. C. MGINTYRE.

CORN SILKING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 7, 1913.

Patented 0013.28, 1913.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

llawltdgddtl To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that ll, donn C. lldolnrrnn, a citizen of the lUnitcd States, residing at lloopeston, in the county of Vermilion and @tate of lllinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Corn-Sillring Machines, of which the following is a specification.'

'llhis invention relates to machines tor` separating the sillr and other debris from the kernels of green corn which have been cut which machine shall have a maximum of* elliciency and which can be quickly and thoroughly cleaned without intermitting its own operation or that of the cutting machines which supply the corn thereto.

ln order that the invention and the manner of itsoperatio-n may be readily understood l set forth in the accompanying drawings and in the description based thereon a preferred embodiment of the same, it being understood that the constructional features of the invention are capable of modification within a wide range and thedrawing and description are for that reason to be construed in an illustrative sense and not as unnecessarily limiting the invention. lln the drawings: Figure l is a lside elevation of the -niachine with.v certain of the parts broken away; litiga. 2 is a front end elevation; Fig. A3 is a vertical transverse section through Fig. l looking toward the rear of the machine; Fig. el is a rear end elevation of a portion of the machine; and

lFig. `5 is a detail sectional view showing the operating mechanism for the shaking sieves.

,'lhe machine frame ll is shown as provided with standards l2 and 13 upstanding .therefroml at the two ends. rl`hesc standards are et dissimilar height and serve as bearing supports for the two ends of anA bpccication of Letters ltatent.

ltpplication tiled hlarc-h 7, will.

Patented @Uleila 2d? lllil..

llerial lilo. 'l' 52,550.

inclined shaft lll. dupportedby the standard 1.3 and by a supplemental standard l5 is a trough-like member lb within which operates a screw conveyer l'l rigidlymounted upon the shaft lll and above and in open communication with the trough lG is a feed hopper 16a into which the cut corn is fed by the cutting machines or from any other suitable source of supply..

lUpon the shaft la is lined a gear wheel 1.8 having teeth upon its forward face, which teeth are in mesh with a beveled gear t9 carried by a jack sha-tt 2O upon the opposite end of which is mounted a miter gear 2l in mesh with a similar gear 22 can ried by the drive shaft 23. llFhe drive shaft 23 is suitably journalcd in the machine frame at- 24, 24 and is equipped with fast and'loose pulleys 25, 26, driven from any suitable source of power, a belt shifter 27 being provided for the shifting of the belt from one pulley to the other.

hired upon the shaft 142 immediately to the rear of the gear 18 by means of a spider bracket 28 is a square plate 29 having a central'aperture coinciding longitudinally with the screw 'conveyer 17, while at the opposite end of the shaft 1l immediately adjacent its bearing in the standard l2 is a spider 30 having four arms. The corners of the plate 29 and the arms of the spider 30 are connected by channel bars 3l which form a box-like frame of which the plate 29 and the spider 30 constitute end frame members, the former closing the upper end of the structure except for a central feed opening and the latter leaving the lower end of the structure substantially open and unobstructed. Upon each of the angle bars 3l near its two ends and also advantageously in its medial portion are mounted clips 32 the central portions of which are secured to the bars while the terminal portions are spaced from said bars, as clearly shown in Figs. 3 and 4. Upon each ot the four sides of this rotary box structure is arranged screens 3?, the marginal frame members 3ft f of which are slidably disposed wit-hinthe space between the terminal portions of the clips and the angle bars, the upper ends otv the screens abuttingr against the plate' 29 and the lower ends thereof terminating near the yspider 30 and the lower ends of the anglevbars 3l.

ln order to retain the screens 33 securely in position and at the same time to provide for their ready removal for cleaning purposes a spider 35 is rotatably mounted upon the shaft 14 closely adjacent to the spider 30. The arms of this spider are of less length than the arms of the spider 30 so that when the spider 35 is turned to bring its arms into alinement with the arms ot' the other spider they will not reach to the angle bars 31 and yet are of suihcient length that when they are turned to a position intermediate the arms of the spider 30 their For the purpose of locking the spider 35l in retaining positon'I form upon one arm thereof a stop projection 36, the outer end of which abuts againstthe edge of one yof the arms of the spider 30 when in retaining position while a spring catch 37 is mounted upon one of the arms of the spider 30 in such position that its free .end will snap into posit-ion behind a rib 38 on the spider 35 thus releasably locking the spider 35 in position with its arms engaging the ends of the screens to prevent their displacement.

rI`he lframe carried by the shaft 14 and the screens removably mounted upon the four sides of the frame constitute a trommel or tumbling screen which receives from the hopper 16a by means of the screw 17 the cut corn and any bits of silk, cob and other debris coming from the cutting machine. The trommel being constantly rotated, the material is tumbled from one screen to the other and the grains of corn fall through the meshes of the screen while most of the silk, cob and other refuse matter are either held in the meshes of the screens or finally discharged 'at the lower open end of the trommel.

Immediately below the trommel' and con necting the end members of the machine frame-are a plurality 'of supporting rails extending in arallel vertical spaced relation longitudinally upon the two sides of the frame, the supporting rails 39 at the rear of the machine are advantageously provided at spaced intervals with vertical apertures while the supporting rails 40 at the front of the machine are provided in their upper edges with notches 41. A plurality of series of silk collecting wires 42 have their rear ends angularly bent at 43 and entered within the apertures of the supporting rails 39, the said wires extending across the machine frame beneath the trommel and having their front ends resting loosely within the notches 41 of the rails 40. The collecting wires 42 extend parallel to each other and the Wires of the various horizontal series are advantageously arranged in vertical staggered relation.

A plurality of stripper bars 44 are provided one for each horizontal series of collecting wires. These stripper bars extend longitudinally of the machine and are provided with transverse horizontal apertures in which the collecting wires are threaded so that the stripper bar may slide upon the wires. The stripper bars are connected with each other at their two ends by cross heads 45, each of which is formed integral with or fixedly attached to a rack bar 46. The rack on the lower edge of the rack bar extends in a substantially horizontal direction except at a lpoint close to the cross head where it is, sharply deflected or'ofset.

' Sui'tably journaled in the brackets 47 is a shaft 48 carrying a pair of pinions 49, 49, and provided with lan operating handle 50. The pinions 49 are in gear with the rack bar 46 and it will be readily understood that as the shaft is rotated in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig.' 3, the racks 4G and the cross heads 45 will be moved to the left toward the front of the machine and, the stripper bars 44 will be caused to slide along the wires 42 stripping from the wires the bits of silk caught thereby as the grains of corn fall from the trommel through the wires. The accumulated bits of silk will be thus pushed to the front of the machine by .the stripper bars and when the offset portion of the rack bars reach the pinions 49 the cross heads and stripper bars together with the wires will be lifted so thatthe stripper bars will clear the upper edge of the notched rails 40 and pushthe silk off the ou-terends of the wires.

As the offset ortion of the rack rides upon the pinion t e ends of the wires 42 being lifted out of the notches 41 are deprived of the lateral sup ort of the notched walls. In order to guar against their lateral displacement and to insure them dropping again into the notches 41 when the stripper bars recede, I mount above and in front of each of the supporting rails 40 a guard strip 51 provided in its lower edge with downwardly opening notches 52 coinciding with the upwardly opening notches 41 of the rail. The guard strips being hingedly suspended along their upper edges se as to swing. rest by gravity in contact with the `louter faces of the rails 40. It will thus b'e seen that `the ends of the wires 42 are confined within aV diamond shape opening formed by the walls defining the lower and upper notches and that when the stripper bars lift the ends of the wires out of the lower notches they enter the narrowing portion of the uplil ^ tact with the side walls of the housing 57" iiereieea per bars strike against the hinged guard strips 5l said strips swing outwardly to per-` mit the accumulation ot silk to be discharged t'iomthe ends of the Wires while conning the wires themselves against lateral displacement.

Below the series of silk collecting wires are arranged a pair of shaking sieves comprising each a frame formed of angle bars 53 having closed ends 54 and supported tot* ieciprocation upon guides 55, a screen 56 being removably. mounted upon the angle bars 53 as a trame. rllhese sieves are arranged at a. slight. inclination and upon `their upper il'iont ends each has rigidly secured thereto by means of the bolts 56, 56 a housing 57. ll/Yithin and in rictional contact with the side walls ot the housing 57 carried by the upper sieve rotate a pair oil cams 58 mounted upon the niainor drive shatt'23, and within and in frictional concarried by the lower sieve is a pair 'of siinilar cams 59 mounted upon a counter shaft 6() which is driven tro-m the main shaft. 282 by means ot al pair ot' interm'eshing gears G1 and 69;. The two sets of cams 58 and 59 may be advantageously displaced 180 al-` though such displacement is not necessary to successful operation. By the superposed slialringlsieves the grains ot corn, falling through the wires l2 and practically rid ot foreign matter, are subjected to a. final treatment so that any bits ot' silk, cob or the likestill remaining aie caught while the` grains of corn fall through the sieve into the discharge hopper 63.' 'lhe screens 56 of the shakinon sieves can be lifted out ot the frames and quickly cleansed.

At frequent intervals during the operation of the machine the handle 50 will be actuated to strip the accumulated sillt from the wires d2 and at longer intervals, whenever necessary, the beltsliitter 27 may be operated to stop the machine ermitting the corn to accumulate within t e trough 16 while the spider 35 is turned Vat an angle and the screens 33 slip ed out of the trommel and cleansed by 'ipping in water or substituted by another set eti-screens held in reserve. 'llie screens 56 ofthe sieves may be cleansedsatl the same-time or substituted by others in the same manner whereupon the screens having been replaced the machine can be again started and the corn which has accumulated within the trough allowed to continue its course throughl the machine. lt will thus be seen that by reason of the provision ot means whereby the machine may be in all of its parts quickly and thoroughly cleansed the operation is practically continuous and it is not necessary to stop the o eration of the cutting machines while the silking machine is itself cleansed.

l claimt y 1. ln a machine of the class described, the combination of -frame having a supporting rail, a series ot collecting wires resting on the rail, a stripper bar mounted for movement longitudinally of and in contact with the wires, means to move the bar along the wires and to lift the latter oli the rail, and means to prevent lateral displacement of the wires while elevated7 substantially as described.

2. ln a. machine ot' the class described, the combination ot a traine having a supporting rail, a series ot collecting wires hingedly mounted at one end and having their :tree ends resting on the rail, a stripper bar slidably mounted on the series of wires, means to move the bar along the Wires and to litt the latter off the rail to permit the bar to' ingtheir ends restinor on the rail within the notches of the guarc strip, a stripper bar slidably mounted on the series of wlres, and means to move the bar along the wires and to litt the latter od the rail within the notches ot the guard strip to permit the bar topass the rail without lateral displacement ol the wires, substantially as described.

d. ln a machine of the class described, the combination et a trame having a supporting rail with notches in its upper edge, a guard strip provided in its lower edges with notches coinciding with the notches of the rail, a series of collecting wires hingedly mounted at one end and having their tree ends resting on `the rail Within the notches of the rail and strip, a stripper bar slidably mounted on the series ot' wires,l and means to move the bar. on the wires and to litt the latter out of the 'rail notches to permit the bar to pass the rail, the notches of the guard strip serving to prevent lateral displacement ot the elevated wires, substantially as described.

5. ln a machine of the class described, the combination of a trame having supporting rails along its two edges, one of the rails provided withnotches in its upper edge, a guard strip pivoted to swing above the notched iail and provided in its lower edges v with notches coinciding with the notches of the rail, a series of collecting wires hingedly connected at one end with the second rail 'and having their free ends resting Within to lift the latter out of the rail notches to permit the bar to pass the rail, the guard strip swinging on its hinges to permit the passage oi: the bar above the rail while guarding the wires against lateral displacement, Substantially as described.'

6. In a machine of the class described, the combination of a frame having supporting rails along its two edges, one of the rails provided with notches in its upper edge, a guard strip pivoted to swing above the notched rail and provided in its lower edges with notches coinciding with the notches of the rail, a series of collecting wires hingedly connected at one end with a second rail and having their free ends resting within the notches of the irst rail, and confined within the notches of the strip, a stripper bar slidably mounted on the series of wires, a rack connected to the stripper bar and having an odset portion, a pinion in engagement with the rack, and means to rotate the pinion whereby to move the bar along the wires and to lift the latter out of the rail notches to permit the bar to pass the rail, the guard strip swinging on its hinges to permit the passage of the bar above the rail while guarding the wires against lateral displacement, substan- 'tially as described.

7. In amachine of the class described, the combination of a frame, having a plurality of supporting rails along each side thereof, the rails on one side provided with notches in their upper edges, a guard strip pivoted to swing above each of the notched rails and rovided in its lower edge with notches coinciding with the notches of the rail, a plurality of series of collecting wires having one end resting within the notches of the rails and guard strips and extending across the frame with their other ends hingthe opposite side, a plurality of stripper bars having apertures through which pass the 'several collecting wires, a cross head connecting the several bars, means to move the cross head and with it the stripper bars in unison along the wires and to lift the latter out of the rail notches to permit the bars to pass the rails, the guard strips swinging upon their pivots to permit the bars to clear the rails while preventing lateral displacement of the wires, substantially as described.

8. ln a machine of the class described, the combination of a frame having a plurality of `supporting rails along each side thereof, the rails on one side provided with notches in their upper edges, a Guard striprpivoted to swing above each ci the notched rails and provided in its lower edge with notches coinciding with the notches of the rail, a plurality of series of collecting wires having one end resting within the notches of the rails and guard strips and extending across the Jframe with their other ends hingedly connected to the supporting rails upon the opposite side, a plurality of stripper bars having apertures through which pass the several collecting wires, a cross head connecting the several bars, a rack connected to the cross head and having an offset near the head, a pinion in mesh with the rack, means to rotate the pinion whereby to move the rack and cross head with the bars along the rods toward the notched rails, the

oii'set of the rack imparting a final lifting action to the head whereby to elevate the bars and wires clear of the rail so as to discharge the accumulation from the wires, the notched guard strips swinging on their pivots to permit the stripper bars to clear the rail while connin the elevated wires against lateral disp acement, substantially as described.

JOHN C. MCINTYRE.

Witnesses:

CEcrL YOUNG, I. E. MERRI'rr. 

